Peter Engelmann (January 24, 1823 – May 17, 1874) was a German American immigrant, educationist, writer, and Wisconsin pioneer.

Peter Engelmann was born on January 24, 1823, in Argenthal, in the Rhine Province of the Kingdom of Prussia.

[1] He then became a writer and editor of a Prussian revolutionary newspaper, the Freier Demokrat (Free Democrat), in the midst of the German revolutions of 1848–1849.

He initially came to Marshall, Michigan, where he worked on a farm, but then made his way to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and finally to Milwaukee.

[5] He was also active in several organizations of freethinkers, wrote numerous articles, and lectured before liberal and scientific societies.